Det här är sant inte bara för bönderna utan också för de adelsmännen (Re: Lyanna Mormonts brev till Stannis som Bear Island känner ingen kung men kung i norra vars namn är Stark). Alla vet vad faktiskt hände vid Röda bröllopet men de var alla rädda för Roose Bolton att göra något åt det.
Hela styrkan hos ädla hus slaktades vid Röda bröllopet. När Robb gick i krig, tog han de mest troliga soldaterna med honom. Resten var trött efter bitter strid med Ironborn. Det var inte riktigt någon kvar att öppna fältet mot Boltons och ingen att förena dem under en flagga. Vissa herrar var djärva nog att vägra betala skatt, men även de lärde sig sin lektion snart.
Roose: We can't hold the North with terror alone.
Ramsay: You can't hold the North if you let these lesser lords insult us.
Roose: I sent you there to collect taxes, not bodies.
Ramsay: Lord Cerwyn (Thanks to @Kepotx) refused to pay. He said the Warden of the North will always be a Stark, and he'd be damned if he kissed a traitor's boot. You left him no choice. I flayed him living, along with his wife and brother. I made his son watch.
Roose: And?
Ramsay: The new Lord Cerwyn paid his taxes.
Roose Bolton var dock inte i uppror. Han utsågs till kronans väktare i norr och han höll sitt kontor i namnet på hans Grace, Joffrey och därefter Tommen i Houses Baratheon och Lannister.
Han litade på Lord Tywin men efter hans död var han inte så säker. Han behövde Stark-namnet för att legitimera sin regel och hans barns. Därför gjorde han en affär med Petyr Baelish. Det var helt rent politiskt.
Baelish: Tyrion never consumated the marriage. By the law of the land, she's no man's wife. Inspect her, if you must.
Roose: I leave that to the brothel keeper. It's her name I need, not her virtue.
Season 5: Episode 3
Men han hade fortfarande sina reservationer:
Roose: When the Lannisters hear I've wed Sansa Stark to Ramsay.
Baelish: The Lannister name doesn't mean what it once did. Tywin is dead. He kept his house in power through sheer will. Without him, Jaime has one hand and no allies, Tommen is a soft boy, not a king to fear.
Roose: The Queen will be enraged.
Baelish: Queen Margaery adores Sansa. Cersei is Queen Mother, a title whose importance wanes with each passing day.
Roose: You noticed, still has friends in important places, whom she can ask for favours.
Season 5: Episode 3
Men han litade inte på Petyr Baelish. Den enda anledningen till att han var dubbelkorsning Cersei var att han inte litade på henne heller.
Roose Bolton: "I have something important to tell you. Stop eating and listen. We don't have enough men to hold the North if the other Houses rise up against us, do you understand that?"
Ramsay Bolton: "But our pact with the Lannisters protects us from....."
Roose Bolton: "I had a pact with Tywin Lannister, and Tywin Lannister is dead. The remaining Lannisters are a thousand miles away dealing with that fact. They've never once in the history of the Seven Kingdoms sent their army this far North. If you think they will for us, you're a fool. We've become a Great House by entering into alliances with other houses, and piling those alliances into greater power. The best way to forge a lasting alliance isn't by peeling a man's skin off. The best way is marriage, and now that you're a Bolton by royal decree, it's high time you married a suitable bride, and as it happens, I've found the perfect girl to solidify our hold on the North."
Season 5: Episode 3
och
Roose: A message for you, from Cersei Lannister. A rider arrived from Eyrie, shortly before dawn. Apparently, she thinks you're still in the Vale.
Baelish: A message for me, you say. Strange that the seal is broken.
Roose: I'm sure you understand my position, Lord Baelish. If you received word in the night from the Queen Mother, it does make me question our new alliance. Lannisters made you one of the great lords of Westeros. Yet, here you are in the North, undermining them. Why gamble with your position?
Baelish: Every ambitious move is a gamble. You gambled when you drove a dagger into Robb Stark's heart. It appears that your gamble paid off. You're Warden of the North.
Roose: I had Tywin Lannister backing. Who supports me now? You?
Baelish: The Eyrie is mine. The last time the lords of the Eyrie formed an alliance with the lords of the North, they brought down the greatest dynasty this world has ever known.
Season 5: Episode 3
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